The 10th Grand Eurostitch Embroidery Contest 2003 and 2004

Embroidery contest

This year, entries were in three categories:
A - Finished Garments: Embroidery on any finished garment such as dresses, shirts, sweaters, caps, etc.
B - Wall Decoration: Embroideries intended for use as a piece on the wall (this embroidery had to be framed).
C - Special Threads: Embroideries on any material made with special threads (metallic threads, fluorescent threads, wool threads).
All entries were judged against four established criteria. The first was creativity and originality - entries were judged on the use of material or embroidery techniques in an original, creative way. Second, the effective use of colours - the good use of colours to enhance the embroidery effect. The third condition was neatness of embroidery - the quality achieved with punching and embroidery and also considering the presentation of the embroidery. The fourth condition was skill - the good application of techniques and overall continuity in punching. The judges had difficult decisions to make, because of the high quality of the entries and the art of embroidery concepts displayed in the works.

The Grand Prize, for the best piece of embroidery from all the categories, chosen by the professional judges, was won by Mr Ergan Yaran, from Nakissan Ltd., S.T.I. in Turkey. The idea for the entry, an embroidered image of Mevlana, a philosopher and mystic of Islam was to represent his religious doctrine of tolerance, positive reasoning, goodness, charity and awareness through love. To him and his disciples, there is religious truths in every religion, be it Muslim, Jew or Christian. His teaching has appealed to men of all sects and creeds. "We as a company, would like to follow his doctrines and share our works, ideas and facilities with other companies without any limits," according to Mr Yaran who made the embroidery in collaboration with other colleagues. The 25 cm × 35 cm entry was embroidered on a 4-head Tajima machine containing nine needles to achieve maximum stitch quality. For the embroidery, 1,523 metres of threads consisting of Durak, Epiriler and Gunold Visco 30 and 40 in 25 different colours and effects were used to achieve consistency. In order to depict a sad image expression, a black suede material was used in the background to highlight the different colours used on the face as well as the loose view on the shirt. Special about this embroidery are the different parts, colours and effects used. Designing and punching, which took thirty-nine hours, was done with the Punto 5.05 embroidery software program, the whole work contains 197,824 stitches. A number 70 needle was used for embroidery. Nakissan Ltd., Turkey will receive the Grand Eurostitch Embroidery Challenge Cup engraved with their name, to be kept for one year. They will also receive the Grand Prize donated by Wings Systems Ltd. and Embrosol. Wings Systems Ltd. offers a Wings XP software package including CorelDRAW and OLE-2 technology, enabling users to use CorelDRAW virtually inside eXperience and convert CorelDRAW outlines to high-quality embroidery. In combination with this, Embrosol is offering one-day training on Wings software.

The Creative Prize, the most creative entry as decided by the judging panel, was won by Mr Antonello Ascione, from AMG Progetti Industriali di Antonello Ascione, Italy. He made the entry in co-operation with Loredana Mariani. The entry is called 'Beltade of Loredana Mariani', a mirror with an embroidered frame. The frame shows embroidered flowers of lilium with pistils, which looks like a butterfly image has been placed on it. The embroidered part is leaned on the mirror showing petals that escape within and outside of it. On the wings of the butterfly, some images of Swarovski crystals have been applied. All the processes involved, from cutting the work, application of embossed parts and finishing touches, have been done by hand. The object can be fixed on a wall. The whole embroidery was perfectly digitised and embroidered. Designing was done with GMI Stilista 2000 software, with full options. Punching took about five hours and the complete work contains 136,409 stitches. The embroidery took six hours to complete with a ZSK JCC embroidery machine. The following threads were used: 8 different colours of metallic threads, 2 colours of thread polyester and 20 Swarovski crystals . The total process of sketching, cutting and framing the work took 26 hours. AMG received the Creative Prize, kindly donated by Pulse Microsystems who are offering a Designer level of Tajima DG/ML by Pulse software package including editing, lettering and digitising.

Finished garments

The First Prize in this category, Millennium 3 editor plus lettering software with millennium@embroidery as an option, allowing easy production of designs on the Internet, kindly donated by Proel, was won by Mrs Regina Wendt from Applikationen Estickung Computer Design. Her entry, a black leather jacket with an embroidered image showing a Red Indian warrior with his horse on the back of the jacket. The entry was done for Mrs Wendt's husband, who wanted something unique and special on his leather vest. Designing was undertaken with Compucon EOS software. The punching took about 48 hours and the whole work contains 124,000 stitches. The embroidery took four hours with a Happy single-head machine. For the embroidery, eighteen colours of Madeira threads in two types were used consisting of Polyneon and Madeira Classic Ombre. The cape of the Indian is an appliqué and the decoration on the feathers is with 3D Stick and Puffy foam from Gunold. A size 70 needle from Gunold was used for the embroidery.

The Second Prize, a Polyneon No 40 collection, consisting of 359 colours of polyester thread including ten Astro colours together with Maderia Colour Definition package, donated by Madeira, was won by Mrs Birgit Stadler. Her entry, a brown vest showing an embroidered image of a horse rider won this category. The embroidery was done with different colours of fluorising threads in a curved pattern. The work was perfectly digitised and embroidered.

The Third Prize, a home sewing machine kindly donated by Aisin Europe, has been won by Mr Shoji Ishiida, from Emyu-Rakusai Co. Ltd., Japan. The idea of the embroidered cut-lace pullover was drawn from the trend of Japanese fashion, which is going into feminine and transparent taste, according to Mr Ishiida, who did the embroidery in collaboration with Ms Mayumi Nomura and Mr Sadao Saito. The embroidery done in the middle of the pullover was with a 4-head Tajima TMEF machine. For the embroidery, Angel King thread was used in order to attain quality. Designing, which took two days, was done with Compucon Hyperstitch; the whole work contains about 62,000 stitches. An Organ no.10 needle was used for the embroidery.

The Fourth Prize, a Dakota package containing 30 selected designs of the winner's preferred machine type kindly donated by de Gast Ontwerpstudio, was won by Mrs Linda Verstappen from Thermopath, Holland. Her entry, the doggy bag that was awarded the Special Prize, also won this category of finished garments.

Wall decoration

The First Prize, an EOS creator software package, enabling you to digitise and edit your embroidery, is packed with practical and time-saving tools, a wide variety of stitch types, fonts and frames as well as very advanced functions, kindly donated by Compucon was won by Mr Erhan Rayan from Nakissan Ltd., Turkey. He won this category with his embroidered bearded man in traditional kaftan entry, which also won the Grand Prize. (See above)

The Second Prize in this category was won by Mr Alexander Kanchev from Bulgaria, who won an Isacord thread sample collection consisting of more than 315 colours of polyester thread kindly donated by Ackermann. His wall decoration shows an embroidered image of the Virgin Mary and son Jesus Christ. The idea of the work was drawn from beautiful icons of Bulgarian artist IIija Rachov. "We saw them on the Internet," said Mr Kanchev, who did the embroidery in collaboration with his wife Bistra Kanchev. The embroidery was done on an 11- needle, 6-head ZSK embroidery machine. For the embroidery, different colours of viscose Sulky and Sulky threads from Sierra and Gunold were used. Designing was with WinDaisy software; the punching took about two weeks and the whole work contains about 119,000 stitches. Organ needles 135 × 5 Num and 70/10 SES were used. The embroidery of the whole work took about four hours.

The Third Prize, a cheque to the value of €400 kindly donated by Gunold GmbH, was won by Mr Beverley Field from Artistic Embroidery Digitizing, Canada. The entry, Michelangelo's Creation of Adam won this category. Designing was with Wilcom software and the embroidery contains 226,760 stitches.

The Fourth Prize, a Madeira Colour Definition Package kindly donated by Madeira, has been won by Mrs Nora Grawitter from Textilforschungsinstitut Thuringen-Vogtland, Greiz in Germany. Her entry, a loose wall decoration showing embroidered faces in a transparent, dried tea bag material, won this category. The idea behind the entry was a tentative approach of looking for unusual material to decorate, using an embroidery machine, manual textile printing and some personal techniques, according to Mrs Grawitter. The wall decoration was embroidered with a 2.5-yard-long Lässer embroidery machine.

Special threads

The First Prize, an EDS DesignShop Pro +, including complete lettering, editing, sizing and digitising plus Digitizing Assistant, kindly donated by Melco has been won by Mr Antonello Ascione's entry, which was awarded the Creative Prize, and also won the First Prize in this category of special threads. You can read more about this entry under the Creative Prize section above.

The Second Prize, a Sylko thread sample collection, consisting of 400 colours of Sylko Polyester thread kindly donated by Coats, has been won by Alexander Kanchev from Bulgaria. His entry, an appliquéd decorated box for storing something valuable was done in co-operation with his wife, who bought the box. The embroidery was done with a Komtekct embroidery machine. For the embroidery, one Metallic Mety, fluorising fluor and three solar threads from Gunold were used. These threads were used because of their attractiveness and to make unconventional designs. Designing was with WinDaisy embroidery software and the whole work contains about 97,000 stitches. Organ needles 135 × 5 Num: and 70/10 SES was used. The whole work including test, designing and embroidery took about a week to create.

The Third Prize, a cheque to the value of 100 Pounds Sterling kindly donated by David Sharp, has been won by Mrs Cornelia Dobner from Creative Design in Germany. Her entry, embroidered Christmas ornaments, won this category. "The idea of the embroidery was inspired by Plauener lace. As a puncher, I am always fascinated by discharge lace and I really like this embroidery technique," according to Mrs Dobner who did the embroidery. The whole work, which was designed and punched with Wings software, contains about 56,000 stitches. The embroidery was done with a 2-head Fortron embroidery machine. For the embroidery, metallic thread and Super Twist in different colours of red, blue, gold and silver were used to give the designs a special solemn touch. For the metallic yarns, a needle of size 80 was used, and for the Super Twist, a needle of size 90 was used. The whole work took 3 days to complete from concept, embroidery design, digitising and embroidery.

The Fourth Prize, an embroidery kit, consisting of products that are very suitable for embroidery threads, backings, spray, Avalon, etc. kindly donated by Aisin Europe, has been won by Beverley Field from Artistic Embroidery Digitising in Canada. His entry, a black evening gown in tulle material was decorated with a special embroidered technique of cording and taping. The embroidered decoration was neatly done in the upper part of the gown.

Eurostitch Magazine would like to congratulate and thank all the participants in the contest, including those who did not win a prize on this occasion. We are looking forward to receiving new entries from all of you in next year's contest. We would also like to express our special thanks to all our sponsors, as without their valuable support there would be no prizes to be won. And of course, we thank the members of the judging panel for their precious time and effort, together with those readers and other members of the public who cast their votes.
Next year we hope to receive even more entries, also from those who did not find time this year to participate. If you are a student at a textile school, winning a prize in our Embroidery or Textile Printing contest could be a great career start. If you are an embroiderer or textile printer, a prize in our embroidery or textile printing contests can attract much attention to your company and also establish a good reputation with customers.
You can start your embroidery or textile printing now for next year's contest; full details of the contest will be announced in our magazine and on our website within a few months.